Ice skating rink resurfacing apparatus

Abstract

An ice resurfacing machine for small and medium-size indoor and outdoor ice skating rinks comprises a light towing vehicle, a resurfacing attachment, and a lifting and leveling assembly connecting them. To eliminate ruts in the ice, the machine removes only a thin layer of ice by scraping, fills the ruts with “snow” created by the scraping, skating, and precipitation, and adds water to fill the rut. The cold from the base ice and/or the atmosphere freezes the water and thus eliminates the rut. The machine may also be used to remove heavy snow or reduce the thickness of the ice. The resurfacing attachment includes a snow box which collects the snow and carries it along the surface of the ice.

1. An ice resurfacing machine for use in resurfacing ice of the flat surface of an ice skating rink, which machine comprises
 (a) a vehicle having a motor, wheels driven by the motor, a steering mechanism for steering the wheels, and a hitch receiver; 
 (b) a resurfacing attachment having
 (i) a snow box support frame; 
 (ii) entirely an open-bottomed snow box attached to the frame, which snow box has a rear wall, side walls, and a top wall, with the rear and side walls terminating in bottom edges which define the bottom edges of the snow box; 
 (iii) a blade mounting member within the snow box; 
 (iv) an ice scraping blade secured to the blade mounting member so that the blade extends across the width of and is surrounded by the snow box; which blade and mounting member
 (1) are spaced from rear wall and top wall, respectively, so as to be located in the forward, lower portion of the snow box; 
 (2) define with the top wall of the snow box, above the blade and mounting member, an open and unobstructed snow passage having a transverse cross sectional area which constitutes a major portion of the transverse cross sectional area of the interior of the snow box; and 
 (3) define with the rear wall of the snow box, behind the blade and mounting member, and communicating with the snow passage, a snow storage chamber constituting a major portion of the internal volume of the snow box; 
 
 (v) a water distributor mounted at the rear of the snow box; and 
 (vi) a removable water spreader towel mounted at the rear of the snow box; and 
 
 (c) a lifting and leveling assembly between, and connecting, the vehicle and the resurfacing attachment; 
 whereby, when the machine is driven across the surface of the ice, with the blade on the surface at an angle to the surface and with the bottom edges of the snow box adjacent the surface, the blade scrapes the surface of the ice to remove a thin top layer of ice and thereby produce snow; most of the snow so produced is propelled upward and away from the blade and, as viewed relative to the snow box, passes freely over the blade, through the passage, and into the snow storage chamber, where that snow is collected and carried by the snow box in such a manner that the collected snow slides along the surface of the ice and is deposited into ruts in the surface of the ice; water is applied to the surface of the ice by the water distributor and is added to the ruts; and the water towel wipes the surface of the ice, spreading the water and leaving the ruts filled with water. 
 
   
   
     2. An ice resurfacing machine according to  claim 1  wherein the height of the snow passage is at least one-half the interior height of the snow box. 
   
   
     3. An ice resurfacing machine according to  claim 1  wherein the cross sectional area of the passage in the snow box is approximately 80% of the transverse cross sectional area of the interior of the snow box. 
   
   
     4. An ice resurfacing machine according to  claim 1  wherein the internal volume of the snow box is approximately 7 cubic feet. 
   
   
     5. An ice resurfacing machine according to  claim 1  wherein said lifting and leveling assembly comprises a drawbar, support arms, a hydraulic cylinder including a piston, a vertical post, lever links, and support bars operatively connected with the snow box support frame so that actuation of the piston moves the snow box vertically, with the bottom edges of the snow box remaining parallel to the surface of the ice. 
   
   
     6. An ice resurfacing machine according to  claim 1  wherein, as viewed relative to the earth, the blade passes under most of the snow produced by the scraping by the blade, the passage passes freely around that snow, and the storage chamber collects that snow. 
   
   
     7. An ice resurfacing machine according to  claim 1  wherein said flat surface of the ice and said rear, side, and top walls of the snow box confine the snow on five sides while the snow is in the passage and the storage chamber. 
   
   
     8. An ice resurfacing machine according to  claim 1  wherein the bottom edges of the snow box are substantially coplanar. 
   
   
     9. An ice resurfacing machine according to  claim 1  wherein the machine further comprises
 (a) a drawbar connected to the hitch receiver; 
 (b) a substantially horizontal, adjustable, central support arm connected to the snow box support frame; 
 (c) a hydraulic cylinder including a piston; 
 (d) two substantially vertical, adjustable, outer support arms; 
 (e) a substantially vertical post attached at its lower end to the drawbar and along its length to the forward end of the central support arm; 
 (f) lever links pivotally connected at one end to the upper end of the post, at its other end to the upper end of the outer support arm, and in between to the upper end of the cylinder; and 
 (g) support bars pivotally connected at their forward ends to the drawbar and at their rear ends to the lower end of the snow box support frame; 
 said snow box support frame, drawbar, support arms, cylinder, post, links, and bars being operatively connected so that (i) adjustment of the outer support arms will level the box from side to side; (ii) adjustment of the central support arm will level the box from front to back; and (iii) actuation of the cylinder will move the snow box vertically to either a first, upper position sufficiently high to enable the removal of collected snow from beneath the box or a second, lower position on the surface of the ice. 
 
   
   
     10. An ice resurfacing machine according to  claim 9  wherein, during said vertical movement of the snow box between the first and second positions, the bottom edges of the snow box remain parallel to the surface of the ice.